Nursing bottle holder



Aug. 14, 1962 A. FULLUM 3,049,258

NURSING BOTTLE HOLDER Filed Jan. 2, 1962 IN VE N TOR Andre FULLUM 3 BATENT AGENT United States Patent 3,049,258 NURSING BOTTLE HOLDER Andr Fullum, 15 Pinsonnault St., St.-Jean, Quebec, Canada Filed Jan. 2, 1962, Ser. No. 163,765 2 Claims. (Cl. 21511) The present invention relates to a holder for bottles, more specifically nursing bottles, and has for its main object the provision of such a holder which will always positively maintain the bottle in tilted position to permit the contents to be readily drawn therefrom.

A more specific object of the present invention resides in a bottle holder of the character described which will maintain the bottle in tilted position such that liquid will always fill at least partially the nipple, even if the infant pushes the holder and bottle assembly sideways.

Yet another important object of the present invention resides in the provision of a bottle holder of the character described which merges with the bottle itself in the area of the bottle next to the nipple and has no projection whatsoever which might produce squinting of the infant during nursing.

Still another important object of the present invention resides in the provision of a holder of the character described which is of simple and inexpensive construction and which tightly fits the bottle and cannot become accidentally disengaged therefrom.

Yet another important object of the present invention resides in the provision of a holder of the character described which forms a totally enclosed air space surrounding the bottle and acting as heat insulating means for keeping the liquid warm in the bottle.

The foregoing and other important objects of the present invention will become more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring to the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a nursing bottle provided with the holder of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal section of the bottle and holder assembly;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic view of the assembly showing how the holder maintains the bottle in tilted position; and

FIGURE 4 is a partial longitudinal section of the top portion of another type of bottle and of a modified holder assembly.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate like elements throughout, the holder of the invention is generally indicated at H and is constituted by a hollow body of generally frusto-conical shape defining a preferably fiat bottom wall 1 and a frusto-conical wall 2 integrally connected to bottom wall 1 by means of curved corner 3. The smaller diameter end of the side wall 2 defines a circular opening 4. The marginal portion of said smaller end is thickened to form an internal collar 5 having a cylindrical internal surface defining opening 4 and of a diameter adapted to snugly fit the side wall of nursing bottle B. The bottom wall 1 is provided with an inwardly extend ing cylindrical flange 6 coaxial with collar 5 and adapted to irictionally engage and receive the bottom portion of the bottle B.

The holder is preferably made of a plastic material such as polyethylene, and may be made opaque but is preferably transparent so as to enable the inspection of the liquid contents of the bottle. The holder has a length such that, with flange 6 receiving the bottom of the bottle, the free edge of the side wall 2 will extend close to the mouth M of the bottle provided with nipple N.

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Due to the fact that the holder has a frusto-conical shape, it will positively maintain the bottle in tilted position, as shown in FIGURE 3, such that the liquid contents even when the bottle is nearly empty, will at least partially fill the nipple N to a level above the small openings of said nipple, such that the infant will never draw air from the bottle. The bottle will always be positively maintained in tilted position because the holder is perfectly symmetrical and will simply roll laterally if pushed sideways.

Because the side wall 2 practically merges with the wall of the bottle itself adjacent nipple end, there are no holder projections which might produce squinting.

As the holder frictionally engages the bottle over two spaced areas, the bottle cannot become accidentally disengaged from the holder.

Holders H can be produced to fit bottles of different sizes and also of different shapes, for instance, if the bottle B has a square section, it is possible to form a flange 6 and rib 5 with a square cross section to fit the bottle, while still preserving the external frusto-conical shape of the holder.

As the holder H is hollow, it forms an air chamber in which the air serves as heat insulation to thereby retard the rate of cooling of the bottle contents.

As shown in FIGURE 4, for a bottle B having a large mouth N of the type in which the nipple (not shown) is held in position by means of a screw cap C, the holder H is modified in such a way that the internal collar 5' is made thicker than in the first embodiment, such that the sidewall 2' of the holder H will have its external surface lying in a frusto-conical imaginary surface which when extended towards the mouth of the bottle will pass through the top corner of the screw cap C or be radially outwardly offset therefrom, such that the bottle and holder assembly will remain in the intended inclined position when resting on a support surface.

While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention has been illustrated and described, it is understood that various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A nursing bottle holder comprising a hollow body of frusto-conical shape having a transverse wall closing the larger diameter end and opened at its smaller diameter end, a flange upstanding from said transverse wall inside said body and coaxial with said opening to receive the bottom portion of a bottle inserted within said holder through said opening, the marginal open end portion of said body engaging the portion of the bottle adjacent the mouth of the latter when said bottle is disposed within said holder.

2. A nursing bottle holder as claimed in claim 1, including a collar formed on the inside of the marginal open end portion of said body to frictionally engage the bottle in the area adjacent the mouth of said bottle, and said flange frictionally engaging the side wall of said bottle adjacent the bottom of said bottle, the frusto-conical wall of said body being spaced from the side wall of said bottle except at said collar to define an enclosed air space between the bottle and holder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

